Chapter 7
7
This was the most tortuous relationship she’d ever started under probably the most stressful circumstances. This man was her protector. He was a SEAL, the kind of man she’d watched do amazing, heroic, and heart-melting stuff. She was sure she wasn’t starstruck. She had seen him at his rawest, almost helpless, fighting with all he had. How could she not want him?
And how she wanted him, especially now that she’d had her hands on him. They walked side by side in a haze of sexual tension and unrelenting desire. She was shocked at herself. She wasn’t much of a sexual person, really. Her thoughts had been tame in the past, especially with the men she’d been with and the ones she’d dated. She hadn’t ever been bowled over…but Twister, God, the man made her crazy to get naked with him, now. The need was urgent, yet she couldn’t follow through on it.
They had to eat breakfast, a meal she never skipped. Her nutrition, workouts, and overall general fitness were key and played major roles in her ability to do her job. She was dedicated to that—nothing had changed there—but to just have enough time to explore Shane “Twister” Reeves would be heavenly. She’d discovered his last name when Easy had called him by his last name in the gym.
As a package, he was just simply irresistible.
When they stepped into the elevator, she couldn’t help touching him, running her hand over his forearm. He responded by clasping her hand briefly.
So far, she’d only had such brief moments with him, and a couple of those had been fraught with tension—the meeting on the plane, their forced proximity while trapped, and that brief session at the gym, then there were the kisses, each one burned into her brain. So, this extended contact was both welcome and exciting. She’d get a little bit of time to talk to him and get to know him a little. That thought sent a frisson of heat through her. She wanted to know all about him…everything.
Twister studied her for a moment. A small frown appeared as the elevator slowly moved to the first floor. “So, who’s this David guy that was giving you a hard time at the gym?” he asked gruffly.
She shot him a startled look. Typical male protective mode. She couldn’t fault him for that. It was an innate male thing, and he was here to guard her and look out for her safety. It was clear David didn’t like her. The feeling was mutual, and she would have to work with him, so she completely understood Twister’s concern.
Everything associated with her relationship with Dylan rose up like a specter, one she couldn’t seem to shed. Now that he was dead, it was tragic and terrible, but still a relief that caused a dose of guilt. Now she was faced with explaining to Twister what had happened, and that was really the last thing she wanted to talk about with him.
She answered with a shake of her head through clenched teeth. “David is not worth mentioning.”
It was true that SEALs didn’t give up. “Your body language and tone tell me differently. I insist, Sadie. I don’t like the way he spoke to you or his overall vibe.” His hand slipped to the small of her back, and she gasped softly at his touch. It was a supportive move, but his tone brooked no disagreement. Clearly, she was a little out of her element. She really didn’t think she was much to fight over, but Dylan and David had fought, and it had affected their relationship. “I know how to classify people quickly and efficiently. If he could get away with it, I think he would do you harm.” That measured look in his eyes sent warning chills down her spine. “After what we have shared, I would take offense if you didn’t trust me, babe. I don’t give that kind of trust to anyone without it being earned, but I was in a tight spot, and you came through for me. Let me come through for you.” Had she always thought that David wanted to hurt her and the only thing holding him back was the fact that he loved diving so much? Had she resisted letting those thoughts into her conscious mind?
Sadie heaved a deep sigh. “So, a silver tongue goes with all the other stuff you have going. I’m getting the feeling you don’t play fair, do you?”
“Charm has never been my strong suit. I’m more of a barbarian with a battle ax than I am an assassin with daggers in the dark. I say what it is and how I feel about it. There’s no sugar coating reality. Life isn’t a lollipop.”
“That saying deserves a T-shirt,” she said with a snort of laughter, but he didn’t so much as crack a smile. “You’re dead serious?”
“When it comes to the high stakes of your well-being or life, fuck yeah. I’ll rip out his lungs and heart before I let anything happen to you. How’s that for reality?”
“No sugar coating there,” she murmured, her breath a bit trapped in her lungs at the way he made her feel so special and valued.
“I’m one hundred percent committed. The least you can do is give me the information I need so I can button down this situation.”
He sounded so tough and official, and why did that freaking melt her heart all over again? “Button down?”
“Don’t mock me, woman. I’m not going to let this go. In fact, I’m reporting my concerns to my LT.”
She groaned. “Really? Do you have to do that? David is already hostile.”
He tapped the stop button, and the elevator paused. He turned to her to face him. Always a powerful presence in every way, he was especially overwhelming in this small space. She understood that he wasn’t looking for a fight here, but he had an always ready-for-action vibe. “Exactly. We need to deescalate that and make him understand that his behavior needs a check.” He reached up and brushed back wisps of her hair, his touch light and lingering. There was something in his eyes that revealed a depth of disquiet that hit home that he was convinced of everything he said. Stone cold reasoning. She responded to his worry, unable to resist caressing his taut face with immeasurable gentleness, trying to smooth away his concern. “The bottom line here is do you trust me or not, Sadie?”
She sensed that this was important, not only in their professional relationship but their personal one, too. His gaze was unwavering, and her voice was steady as she answered softly, “I trust you, Shane.” She was so drawn to this man’s power and tenacity, and she wanted to draw his energy into her body and mind. “Everything in me feels so disoriented, but on that one issue, I know for sure that you have my unwavering trust. I get you have strong opinions, and I do love your direct way of communicating. It’s refreshing and real.”
The muscle in his jaw twitched and he abruptly looked away, his expression still a bit guarded. Whatever had happened in his life had most certainly left some scars. She wasn’t a stranger to them either. Maybe those wounds needed healing as much as hers did, and it left him unconsciously wary. She watched him, compassion stirring in her as she gently took his face between her hands and finally gave him what he was demanding she reveal, dreading where all this might lead.
“I had a relationship with Dylan Mercer, the diver who was murdered.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t?—”
“Please, don’t be. Dylan and I parted on very bad terms. He and David fought about me all the time. I didn’t think it was worth that much energy. I’m not anything special.” Twister frowned at those words but didn’t interrupt. “But Dylan was the weaker one in that relationship, and David tried everything he could to break us up. Finally, he told Dylan that it was either me or him. He chose me, but there were problems I wasn’t aware of until he started talking about us getting married, having children, and how I would have to give up my career to be the mother of those children.”
“Whoa.” Twister tightened his hold on her as she nodded. He shook his head, his eyes connecting frankly with hers. “Presumptuous that you went through all the training to then give it up in a few years. Very unreasonable.”
She hesitated as she considered what to say. It wasn’t going to be easy to not show David in a bad light. She really didn’t owe him anything but did understand that his friendship with Dylan was everything to him, and that’s what led to his terrible behavior toward her. She didn’t excuse it or condone it. Just was aware how much it must have hurt him. “Yeah, that was crazy talk because that wasn’t going to happen. I only knew him for about six months, and to be honest, I wasn’t feeling our relationship by the time dive school was over. We got separate assignments. I went to MDSU-1, and he went to 2. He was ballistic and even accused me of requesting a transfer so that I wasn’t in the same locker as he was. New divers don’t get a choice. He got unreasonable, and I broke it off before leaving Panama City. He sent me some ugly texts, and I blocked it all. I haven’t spoken to him since, but when I run into David, he likes to remind me what a bitch I am for breaking Dylan’s heart. My guess is they reconciled as friends after I was out of the picture and became an ‘I hate Sadie Club.’ It’s so strange to me that he would even care about me. He got back with Dylan, and that should have made him happy, but it didn’t.”
“That’s because he secretly wanted you all along, and truthfully, Dylan got in the way.”
“No, he was always so mean to me.”
“Ever seen Love Actually ?” he asked.
She thought about the guy who was secretly in love with his best friend’s girlfriend and how nasty he was to her, so much so, she wanted to try to make it better, unaware of his feelings. “Oh,” she said softly.
Twister slipped his hand into her hair, cradling her head against his shoulder. Enfolding her in a close embrace, he nestled his cheek against her hair. “None of that matters now,” he said. “We’ll keep an eye on him.”
With her arms around his neck, she saw her watch, realizing that their time was slipping away. Neither of them could be late for the briefing. “We really have to go, no matter how much I wish we could turn this damn elevator around and go back to my room and just shut out the rest of the world.”
He took a hard breath, and she turned her head, pressing her face into the curve of his neck, and Twister’s hold tightened as he said, “Fuck that sounds so damn good.”
The huskiness in his voice infused her with a sudden weakness, and Sadie’s breath caught as her body responded to the closeness of his. But as much as she wanted to give way to the deep pulsating need that was swelling in her, she knew that they just didn’t have time.
Somehow, she found the strength to resist the nearly overpowering attraction of his mouth, wondering how she was ever going to endure it when she had to let him go.
“There is one thing we can look forward to,” she said.
“What’s that?” he growled.
She grinned as she idly raked a nail across the dark hair on his face. “We are going to get some time off,” she whispered as his eyes glinted sharply like the edge of a steel blade. “And when we do…I hope all that energy I feel in you can last a good long time.”
He exhaled a long sigh. The gleam in his eyes intensified. She liked that he was so tall. He widened his stance and locked her hips against his, fusing their bodies together from shoulder to thigh in a perfect, intimate match. She sensed he was fighting his own battle, and struggling for some thin thread of composure, she turned her head and buried her face in the strong notch between his chin and shoulder.
He let his breath go in a rush of exasperation. “That statement isn’t conducive to me letting you go, woman.”
“I have some more good news to impart. I have a contraceptive implant, and I’m clean, so no need for condoms, unless….?”
“No, I’m clean,” he said, “and for us to continue with our professional job, you have to release me.”
With his arm angled across her back, he slid his hand up the back of her neck, his hold oddly protective. Sadie eased back into his embrace and gave him a terse look as she traced his enticing bottom lip with her thumb. She said in a throaty voice,” I don’t want to let you go, so I have conflicting emotions. Do you want to fight about it?”
He laughed. “Not right now. Although maybe later.”
“I’ll count the minutes.”
The laughter went out of his eyes as he gazed at her, the pulse in his neck suddenly noticeable. He spanned her jaw with his hand as he answered softly, “Now you’re giving me sass.”
Sadie read his intent, and a shudder ran through her as she hesitated while his eyes darkened. If he kissed her now, her resistance to him was so low she would be lost. And in spite of how much she wanted it to happen, she didn’t want either one of them to get in trouble.
She felt as though she was suffocating as she gazed at him, longing to relent but knowing she didn’t dare. Her voice was fragmented when she whispered, “Don’t, Shane. I’m not sure what’ll happen if you do.”
His eyes captured hers and his touch was infinitely gentle as he dragged his hand through her hair and caught her by the back of the head, forcing her mouth to his. His lips were warm as he brushed the corner of her mouth with a whisper of a kiss, then roughly pressed her against him, his breathing labored. Twister sighed and shifted his hold, his voice tinged with reluctance and a simmering heat. “You aren’t making this any easier.” He slammed the flat of his hand against the stop button to get the elevator moving again, and they were soon in the lobby.
He barely gave her enough time to catch her balance before he propelled her forward. “I think it’s time we move to safer ground,” he said succinctly, and Sadie worked at getting her equilibrium back.
They reached the hallway leading to the mess hall, and Sadie shivered, partly from the cool air and partly from the absence of Twister’s physical warmth. When they entered the room, they were all business. She grabbed the fastest thing she could find, overnight oats, and he followed suit. Along with a cup of coffee each, they wolfed down their breakfast.
They went for another cup of coffee, and he took her cup and poured hers out, then handed it back to her. She added cream, while he took his black, their arms lightly brushing.
“You ready for this whole thing,” he asked, and she realized that he was talking about this thing between them.
“Sure am, but are you?”
“As sure as death and taxes,” he said.
She took a sip, then slanted an amused glance up at him. “Well, look at that. I guess you can teach a seal more tricks than just bouncing a ball on his nose.”
That made him laugh. Stars, he was so beautiful as he shook his head. “I bet you drive your bosses crazy.”
“I’m taking the fifth,” she murmured. She glanced at her watch, and it was time to haul ass to the meeting.
They made it to the briefing room exactly on time and mostly everyone else was already seated. Twister moved to the table and stared at Flash until he moved a seat over, then he and Sadie took the empty side-by-side seats.
Flash grinned with a knowing look.
Sadie had more or less regained her equilibrium, and a vitalizing energy made her feel as if she were walking on air. He moved his chair so that his forearm was touching hers. There was something about the way he did it that revealed a very comfortable familiarity, and Sadie experienced a warm rush. She would have never believed that grumpy sleeping beauty on the plane could find so much pleasure from simply touching her. She leaned against his arm, liking the feel of his warmth against her. She took a sip of coffee, waiting for the brief to begin.
Tex stepped to the front of the room. “Good morning. I’m Lieutenant Michael Penn, but you can all call me Tex. I’m the CO of the Navy SEALs who will be protecting the divers from Seven Demands. Please stand when I call out your name.” He named the team, and each of them stood, including Twister when his name was called, then sat down when he was finished. “We have some preliminary information to impart, then we’ll get down to the briefing. In regard to the bombing at the airport yesterday, Seven Demands have taken credit. Including the bomber, we had forty-five deaths, twelve of those were children.” His mouth tightened. “Of those children, six were American citizens. They died with their parents while on vacation. American citizens accounted for over half of the fatalities,” he said grimly.
Sadie closed her eyes, a lump in her throat and she pressed harder against Twister’s arm. He turned to look at her, bolstering her with compassion in his eyes.
“The State Department and the Department of Defense have sent CIA Officer Emma Sutherland, and the Navy has sent two NCIS special agents: Griffin Crawford and Axel Beck.” The CIA operative looked like a weapon, sleek, keenly honed, and lethal with long blonde hair and violet blue eyes. Stunning. Special Agent Crawford was a sharply handsome, dark-haired man with pale blue eyes that looked like they could look right through you, and his intimidating partner, Special Agent Beck, was…big and muscular, his skin the color of a fawn’s tawny coat. Dangerously handsome, he had his crinkled, inky black hair secured with a band to the nape of his thick neck. His eyes below those dark-winged brows were velvety obsidian and the only soft thing on him. He had an almost beard accentuating a full, sensuous mouth. “They will be investigating, with the help of our host country’s local police, and both US and Indonesian Naval military attachés, and the FBI forensic team, the attack at the airport and our deceased Navy diver, Dylan Mercer. Dylan was murdered in the Bali Sea from an attack by Seven Demands. They don’t want us to salvage the wreck. Their philosophy is that their bodies were taken in by the ocean and shouldn’t be disturbed. He was stabbed while surfacing from the wreck. His body was recovered by Petty Officer Neil Lancaster, who was also in danger from the attackers, but he fought them off and brought Petty Officer Mercer to the surface. But it was too late to save him.”
Neil had been there? She looked around the room and spied him close to the front. Surprisingly, he was staring at her. She nodded to him, trying to project her sympathy at what had happened. He blinked a couple of times, his eyes filling with gratitude. That must have been awful for him. He was a sensitive guy, and although she had no idea if he and Dylan were close, she suspected it had to be very upsetting, regardless of their relationship. They were all in the service together, but it was more than that. There was something about the shared hell of dive school and doing a job that was dangerous even on a good day, that forged a strong bond. Her eyes shifted to David—well, most of them anyway.
He scowled back at her, and she focused once again on Tex.
“So that’s a head’s up for the people you’ll see around.” When he nodded his head, Emma, Axel, and Griffin exited the room.
The people who were left were a man in Navy khaki, showing his warrant officer rank, and another with captain’s bars remained. Tex was moving on to their mission objective. “We have with us Warrant Officer Jason Chisolm, who is commanding this dive operation, and the captain of the rescue and salvage support vessel from Naval Sea Systems Command out of Singapore, USNS Guardian , Captain Allen Robertson.”
Sadie didn’t know either man, but it was clear that the operation was steadfastly moving forward.
“Me and my guys will accompany the salvage divers on each trip out to the Bali Sea where the Guardian will anchor for the operation. Two combat divers will always accompany two salvage divers. My guys will of course be armed. If there is any danger, follow what they tell you to do to the letter. It will save your life.” He shifted, his words firm. “Once the shift is over, the ship will return to the dock. Are there any questions?”
No one said anything. “Good. Everyone who needs to, grab your gear. We’ll be heading out to the Guardian and commencing the first diving operation. Dismissed.”
She gritted her teeth—no opportunity to steal another few moments with Twister. Her body ached for him, and she couldn’t forget the sight of his well-endowed, jutting erection that she wanted to get her hands on. It was true she’d never gone down on a guy, had never had the desire to do so, but she couldn’t stop the urgent need inside her to suck Twister off. She wasn’t exactly sure how that would go, but she wanted to in the worst way.
Again, shocked at herself, she followed him out of the room, back to the elevator so that she could change into her skin suit and collect her gear. When he disappeared into his quarters, she ducked into her room and stripped down, grabbed up the garment she wore beneath her suit, and zipped it up.
It always felt decadent that she was naked beneath it.
Then it was to the van. When they pulled up to the dock, everything was already unloaded and stowed on the Guardian .
It was an impressive vessel designed to perform combat salvage, lifting, towing, off-ship firefighting, manned diving operations, and emergency repairs to stranded or disabled vessels. The ship carried transportable cutting and welding equipment, and hydraulic power sources.
For their purposes, the ship had a diving stage, double-lock hyperbaric chambers for decompression, a galley, and showers for after dives. The minute she was aboard the ship, she started to unload and check over her gear.
She was assigned to Neil as a partner, with Dagger and Twister acting as their protection. She was relieved she wouldn’t have to dive with David.
When she was ready, she donned her blue neoprene wet suit she used when diving in warm, shallow water. It was lighter and more comfortable than the thick rubbery suit that was needed when the water was cold or especially deep.
Sadie looked in the mirror and sighed. She loved her job—and was thankful that Kittiwake had been repositioned from its resting place to this site and all its ordinances removed by their explosive ordnance disposal divers. She would be using an umbilical cord and a full-face mask, the same setup she used with her helmet with the same capabilities, including communication.
Sadie arrived at the platform just as Dagger was checking Neil’s equipment. Twister wasted no time and began checking her connections, and gauges, weights, and her hoses and tanks.
When he was done, Dagger did the same for him, and when the four of them were ready, they slipped to the dive deck and plunged into the ocean.